Continuous Priorities Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

February or July

• Become a member of ASH. Becoming a member of ASH is one of the first and most important things you can do. ASH provides valuable discounts and resources to trainees that will help them further their careers. This also allows you to apply and avail of certain grants and programs that ASH offers its members. Applications for Associate membership are processed throughout the year until early November.
• Visit the trainee career center. Visit the Training section of the ASH Web site frequently for training updates and notices about conferences and research award opportunities

July

• Identify an advisor for your first year. If not assigned to you at the beginning of your fellowship, ask your program director to assist in the identification of an advisor for your first year of training. The role of this advisor would be to serve as a resource to you as you begin to consider career pathways and research careers. As your plans become more focused, the advisor should also be able to suggest potential mentors to you for subsequent training. Note: Your advisor does not have to become your research mentor.
• Expand your knowledge, attend conferences. Attending conferences at your institution (within your division, department, cancer center, undergraduate/graduate departments) can help gain exposure to faculty's research interests.

July - December

• Develop a vision and map out your future. By six months, develop a vision of your clinical and scholarly life.

September

• Register for the ASH annual meeting.
• Identify opportunities to apply for training in clinical/translational research degree programs or workshops. Explore master's programs at your home institution, the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute, EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH),Cancer Education Consortium, ASCO, or AACR intensive training.
  
• Check out the many ASH career development awards available for those training in a career in hematology.
  
• Begin to identify a mentor. Begin meeting and gathering information on potential mentors, and narrow your choices by the spring of your first year so that you may, ultimately, find the best mentor for your career goals. Try to have your mentor identified by the spring of your first year so that you may begin to work with your mentor on outlining a specific research project. Before you meet with a potential mentor, do your homework. Know what the faculty member's research focus is, review at least one of his/her recent publications, and research the publication track record of other fellows who have worked with this mentor. Talk to other fellows who have worked with this faculty member to determine how supportive the mentor was and the degree of guidance offered to trainees. Be sure to prepare a list of questions to ask potential mentors ahead of time.
  

December

• Attend the ASH annual meeting. The ASH annual meeting offers a plethora of opportunities to network, trainee lounge, trainee day, etc.
• Complete the requisite tests for certification. In preparation for eventually conducting research at your institution, complete the requisite tests for certification, should they be necessary for the review of a forthcoming institutional research ethics board proposal on a study that you and your mentor are planning (i.e., proof of HIPPA awareness and the ethical conduct of research). Such proposals for retrospective case series reviews or small pilot studies are also good practice for scientific writing and are an opportunity to have a concrete start (and precious approval lead time) on a project.

Continuous Priorities Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

back to top